


A Not-So-Quiet Night

by byericacameron



Series: Canon AU [13]
Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Blood, Crime Fighting, M/M, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-04
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-02 19:45:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4072312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byericacameron/pseuds/byericacameron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zane got tickets to the screening of a new zombie movie and Nick is going to be in town. They plan for a quiet night out, but...well, things never do go as planned, do they?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Not-So-Quiet Night

**Author's Note:**

> Original Prompt from roseglass on Tumblr: Hi! Love, love, love your fic; thank you for taking the time to share. Is there any chance we could see a third knife fight fic, but with Zane and Nick working together?
> 
> I’m having a bit of a day but I ended up with some spare time so I thought I would look back through my asks and see if anything caught my attention. Luckily, I am perfectly in the mood to make fictional people bleed. So, here! Be warned that there are probably errors as this is quickly written and completely unedited. All mistakes are mine and there are most likely a lot of them.
> 
> Also, I do apologize for how long this prompt has been sitting in my Tumblr inbox. This and the others that have been patiently waiting with it have been sitting there for too long. I can only plead a busy schedule and mental exhaustion and hope you all forgive me.
> 
> In my head, this takes place after Crash & Burn.

Despite all the time Nick and Zane had spent texting each other stupid puns and keeping each other up to date on the impending zombie apocalypse, they’d spent surprisingly little time alone ever. Tickets to a limited-seating pre-screening of what turned out to be a pretty fucking epic—and epically gross—zombie movie seemed like a good a reason as any to ditch their boyfriends ( _or, husband_ , Nick realizes,  _in Zane’s case now_ ) for a few hours.

“I wanna shake the hand of whoever the special effects makeup director was,” Zane said as they strolled out of the theater toward the pub down the street. “That was  _art_.”

Nick smiled and nodded. It  _had_  been incredibly believable. “I guess you’d know if anyone would.”

“I still can’t believe Ty showed you that stuff.” Zane shook his head and stuffed his hands deeper into the pockets of his coat, his hunched shoulders not doing much to hide the slightly embarrassed smile on his face.

“Of course he did. He’s like a proud mama with you sometimes.” Nick swung one hand out wide and raised his voice an octave. “Now this one my dear Zane painted in what I like to call his summer period.”

Zane laughed. “Shut up, you asshole.”

“You can tell it’s summer because there’s a lot of green,” Nick said.

“You are such a jackass.” Zane said it with a smile, though, so Nick brushes the insult off.

“Nah, man. They really are good. I’d buy a print even if I didn’t know who you were. Or, you know, I would if there was any fucking wall space in the yacht or Kelly’s cabin.”

“Maybe I’ll paint you guys something for Chris—”

Both of them jerked to a halt as a sound registered on the edge of their hearing. A thud and a grunt. Either sound alone would be ignorable. Both in quick succession?

Nick caught Zane’s eye just long enough to make sure they heard the same thing.

They both bolted down the alley across the street. The two lights affixed to the buildings are out, casting the narrow alley in shadow. Just enough light filters in from the street for Nick to catch sight of the shifting shapes in the back corner and—shit. Was that a knife?

Nick was two running strides away from the strangers shrouded in darkness. Plans ran through his head at lightning speed.  _Grab his arm. Wrench the hand back. Dislocate the shoulder. He’ll drop the knife. Get Zane to call 911._

Opening his mouth to hiss his orders at Zane, Nick missed the blur of motion to his left.

A shoulder rammed into his ribs. The force drove him off balance. He narrowly missed Zane, landing instead against the brick wall facing the assailant who popped up out of the night like a fucking hellspawn. Nick caught the fist driving down toward his face, silently praying that Zane made it to the back of the alley in time to stop that knife.

Knocking aside another wild punch, Nick slams his boot into the kid’s stomach. And it is just a kid. This guy  _can’t_  be more than twenty. Kid stumbles back, hunched protectively over himself, and Nick finally sees when he missed when he and Zane ran blindly into this fight.

A door. A dark but open doorway and about ten idiots lining up to join the fray.

“Oh, fuck me.  _Zane_! Company!”

Zane threw another punch while the guy with the knife is stuck between Z and a brick wall. The wall won and the asshat slid to the dirty ground. Nick couldn’t devote much attention to that, though. He was too busy watching the guys from the building fan out

“This ain’t your business,” one of the new additions said. His voice was higher pitched than Nick expected, but that didn’t lessen the menace in it one iota. “You need to back away from this now, old timers.”

“I don’t think we can do that.” Zane slid into place off Nick’s right shoulder, his deeper voice just as determined as the apparent leader of this…whatever the fuck this was. Gang? Mob? Boy Scout meeting gone really fucking wrong?

“You walk away,” Boy Scout said. Then there’s a click. Like the safety on a handgun releasing. “Or you won’t ever walk again.”

“Gunshot in this neighborhood will draw attention.” Zane’s voice has dropped almost to a growl—something more felt than heard. Nick lets him talk because this is his city. He knows it a lot better than Nick and might even have a better idea what they’re up against right now. “And do you really want to go shooting people and leaving all kinds of evidence when you don’t even know who you’re killing?”

“I’m killing a couple of nosy trespassers who started looking under rocks better left alone.” But the safety clicked back on and Nick caught the lifting of one of Boy Scout’s shoulders. “The ammo could definitely be put to better use, though. Boys, handle that.”

One look at Zane and Nick knew they’ve got the same idea. One look and then they both charged, breaking the silence of the alley and sending the entire scene into chaos.

Before the kiddy goons could follow orders, Nick grabbed two of them and slammed their heads together before releasing them, letting their slumping forms trip the guy behind them. Nick seized the guy’s collar and drove him across the alley faster, ramming his head into the brick. Someone wrapped an arm around his neck. An elbow to the solar plexus and a quick twist of his torso and that idiot was gasping for breath on the concrete.

Two guys rushed Nick. Each one grabbed an arm, driving him backward until he collided with the bricks again. His head rang for a second. Luckily instinct took over. Managing to twist his wrist enough to grab a pressure point on Thug 1’s arm fucking  _hurt_ , but it also made the guy scream like Nick stuck him with a branding iron. As soon as Thug 1’s grip loosened, Nick swung his knee up and guided Thug 2’s head down to meet it. Specifically his nose.

 _Crunch_.

The sound of Thug 2’s nose breaking was practically beautiful in that moment. Like steel drums on a beach. The perfect accent.

A thought popped into Nick’s head and laughter bubbled up. Choked, gasping laughter.

“Hey, Zane?” If not for the slight rasp to his voice, Nick would almost call his tone conversational.

“A little busy, Nick.”

“Is this how it usually is?”

“What is wh— _oof_!” Zane grunted with just enough pain in his voice to draw Nick’s attention. Just in time to watch him slug some idiot wearing a yellow bandana. “What is when?”

“When you and Ty go on vacation.”

“Oh, fuck you, O’Flaherty! You know—” Zane backhanded one guy so hard his head snapped back to an almost unnatural angle. “You  _know_  we don’t use that word!”

Nick’s still laughing when the next guy

 _Fuck I’m getting too old for these kind of fucked up odds._  Nick pulled a knife out of one guy’s arm—something that probably belongs to Zane—and slams it into someone else’s thigh. _What happened to fighting fair?_

As the guy went down clutching his leg and screaming for help, Nick took a breath and heard…nothing. Nothing but his rapid pulse and the harsh drag of his breathing.

Was that…was that all of them? Nick had completely lost count somewhere in the middle of that disaster.

Then he heard that same fucking click.

“Impressive for a couple of old guys.” It was Boy Scout. Not one to get his hands dirty, then. “At least you’re worth the bullets now.”

Nick tried to gather his strength to—what? Charge the guy with the gun and get shot at two feet instead of ten? Fuck that. If he was about to die, he’d do it leaning against this wall because he wasn’t sure he could handle anything else right now.

_Oh Kels is going to kill me even if I don’t die._

“ _Freeze_!” That one shouted word and it was like a choir of angels had suddenly started singing. Or something slightly less melodramatic. Nick really did love it when the cops showed up  _right_  when they were wanted, though. He really, really did. “This is the police! Drop the gun. All of you, hands up! Move and we  _will_  shoot!”

Slowly—painfully—Nick raised his hands, letting the wall hold him up and waiting for the shitshow to start.

“You still got active credentials, right?” Nick asked Zane. “Cause this is gonna go a  _lot_  easier if only one of us is retired.”

Nick’s official retirement from the force had been half the purpose for this visit. Zombies were the other half.

“Yeah I got some strings left,” Zane muttered from a few feet away from Nick. “You know I’m gonna have to call him so he can start pulling, though, right?”

 _Shit_. He nodded, keeping his mouth shut as a fuck-ton of rookie cops filled the already cramped alley, handcuffing everyone with a pulse. Including Nick and Zane.

Yeah, Nick knew Zane had to make that call. He also knew that Ty was never going to let him hear the end of this. Even though this  _so_  hadn’t been his fault.

~*~

It only took a few choice—shouted—words and a couple flashes of his still-shiny ID to get Ty through the police barrier that had completely blocked all four lanes of the street. Nick watched Ty burst onto the scene wearing plaid pajama pants and a black shirt that said “I’d be unstoppable if not for law enforcement & physics.” Some things really never changed.

“You were supposed to  _see_  a zombie movie, idiots! Not try to recreate one,” he shouts as soon as he’s within earshot.

“Seemed like a good idea at the time,” Nick called back.

Luckily by now Nick and Zane had given their statements to three different detectives and had been tentatively cleared of any possible charges. The self-defense explanation was kind of obvious here. They hadn’t been what worried Nick. Ty’s reaction though? Everything had barely gotten back to normal between them after…well, after everything. And he really didn’t need him calling Kelly and making things sound worse than they were.

Ty slides to a stop in front of his husband, his eyes thoroughly scanning Zane’s body for damage. He hadn’t exactly come away unscathed, but Nick thought that ten stitches, two bruised ribs, a black eye, and bloody knuckles were kind of light compared to what it could’ve been. The kid they’d rushed in there to rescue? Nick had overheard the words “medically induced coma,” “internal bleeding,” and “possible brain damage” from some of the EMTs.  

“You bruised him.” Ty’s hand on Zane’s cheek was gentle, the kind of gentle Nick was finally getting used to seeing from his friend. The look on his face wasn’t anything close to gentle when he turned his glare on Nick. “This is fucked up all to hell, O! I’m not going to let you borrow my things anymore if you bring them back broken!”

“Hey!” Zane protested. Nick and Ty ignore him.

“You shoulda seen him in there though, Tyler. You’da been proud.”

That wouldn’t work with many people, but Ty’s eyes softened and he glanced at his husband. “I know. He can be a badass when he wants to be.” He sighed and crossed his arms. “I just wish he’d remember he’s supposed to be  _retired_  now.”

“Only in theory.” Zane grinned and pulled Ty closer, standing up from his seat on the back of the ambulance to kiss his husband. “Besides. You wouldn’t even notice if I was gone. Not with those little terrors running around the store and taking up all of your time.”

“You’re probably right.” Ty’s face was completely serious as he nodded. “Maybe I’m better off keeping them and getting rid of you.”

“Nope. You said ‘I do.’ Even got another tattoo for me.” Zane looped his arms around Ty’s waits and tugs him even closer. “You’re mine now.”

Nick looked away, the whole moment making him miss Kelly. Specifically that thing Kelly could do with his tongue against the base of Nick’s neck that—

Ty’s sigh, this one exasperated instead of lovelorn, pulled Nick’s attention back.

“C’mon, idiots. The coppers gave me permission to ferry your asses home. Anything to get you both the hell out of here.” Ty raised his eyebrows at his husband and his best friend. “Made some friends, did ya?”

“They didn’t believe him when he said he was an ex-Fed,” Nick said, nodding his chin toward Zane.

“And a couple of the cops may have said some shit about Nick’s team of choice,” Zane admits.

Ty had started walking toward the police line, but the admissions stop him short. He blinked, looking between Nick and Zane before muttering, “Oh Lord save me.” His head dropped and his fingers came up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “ _This_  is where I’ve chosen to lay my affections?”

“At least you don’t have to all Kelly and tell him he has to come visit me in the hospital again,” Nick said, nudging Ty to get him moving again. This had turned out to be a long, grueling night. Getting away from all the flashing lights sounded like a fantastic idea.

“Don’t even joke about that shit,” Ty warned. “In fact, both of you shut up. Talking and decision making privileges have been officially revoked from both of you until further notice.”

Zane grinned and bent down to whisper something in Ty’s ear that brought a noticeable amount of color to his cheeks and Nick laughed.

Somehow he didn’t think Ty’s ban would last all that long.

For Zane at least.


End file.
